Means for timing and controlling electrical circuits



Oct. 11, 1932. Y J. METTLER 1,382,333

- MEANS FOR TIMING AND CONTROLLING ELECTRICAL cmcums Filed Aug. 30, 1927Patented Oct. 11, 1932 UNITEDTSTATES PATENT OFFICE J'OSEF METTLER, OE'ZUG, SWITZERLAND, ASSIGNOR TO LANDIS & GYR, A.-G., A LIMITED JOINT-STOCKCOMPANY, OF SWITZERLAND MEANS FOR TIMING AND CONTROLLING ELECTRICALCIRCUITS Application filed August 30, 1927, Serial No. 216,390, and inSwitzerland September 8, 1926.

The invention relates to novel settable and selectivelyitime-controlledmeans for governing electric circuits, and more particularly in certainaspects thereof to'such mechanisms adaptable for controlling metercircuits, such as variable or multi-taritf meters, although in otheraspects thereof the invention has other and various applications.

Objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in parthereinafter and in part will be obvious herefrom, or may be learned bypractice with the invention, the same being realized and attained bymeans of the instrumentalities and combinations pointed out in theappended claims.

The invention consists in the novel parts, constructions, arrangements,combinations and improvements herein shown and described.

The accompanying drawing, referred to herein and constituting a parthereof, illustrates one embodiment of the invention, and together withthe description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.

*" Of the drawing:

Fig. l is an elevation, with parts broken away and parts in section, ofa mechanism embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a partial elevation and a partial section, substantially onthe line 22 of Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 3 is a top plan corresponding to Fig. 1;

Fig. 4: is a fragmentary detail corresponding to the upper right-handpart of Fig. 1, but showing the circuit-actuating mechanism in adifferent position;

.Fig. 5 is similar to Fig. 4, but shows the circuit-actuating mechanismin a still difierent position;

F ig. 6 is an elevation of a different mechanism embodying theinvention;

Fig. 7 is atop plan corresponding to Fig. 6; V

Fig. 8 shows the same mechanism as Fig. 6 but, in a differentcircuit-operating position; and i Fig. 9 shows the same mechanism asFigs. 6 and 8 but in a different circuit-operating position.

The invention is directed to providing a selectively settable mechanismfor controlling a plurality of electrical circuits under the control ofa clock mechanism, whereby the various circuits'are openable andclosable in any desired sequence of a plurality of possible sequences,and with variable intervening time periods between such operations. Thusthe order in which the circuits are actuated and the time during whichany particular circuit is opened or closed can be predetermined bysetting certain devices in connection with the clock mechanism, whichdevices control the circuit actuating means.

One valuable commercial application of the invention is to the controlof variable rate meters or variable tarifi meters, as Where differentrates are charged, say during peak load hours, and certain othervariably determinable time periods, having particular relations to thevarying total station load, or other load conditions. The particularembodiment shows circuit controls for a threetaritf meter.

In the present preferred and illustrated embodiment of the invention,circuit-actuating means for selectively actuating any one of a pluralityof circuits, that is, to open or close same are provided, including adevice variably positionable with respect to the selected circuits forthis purpose, and an actuating mechanism for effecting the opening orclosure of the selected circuit when said device has been so positioned.The actuating mechanism also retracts said variablypositionable deviceso that it may be moved from operative relation with one or the other ofthe respective circuits. Cooperating therewith are means, settable bythe attendant, to select the sequence of the circuits and the opening orclosing thereof. Said settable means are also positionable to variablywe determine, as desired, the time at which these circuit selecting andcontrolling operations shall occur, and the time which shall elapsebetween the successive operations on the circuits; the mechanism beingcapacitated to repeat these operations in any of these predeterminedsequences and time relations repeatedly and continuously until a newsetting is made by the attendant.

Referring now in detail to the embodiment of the invention illustratedby way of ex ample in the accompanying drawing, and having reference tothe embodiment shown in Figs. 1 to 5, suitable driving and timingconnections to the clock mechanism are provided, comprising an arbor 1to which is fixed a pinion 2, the arbor being journaled in the frameplate 3 of the frame of the clock mechanism. Meshing with the pinion 2is a gear wheel 4, fixed on a sleeve 5 mounted loosely on a rod 6,carried by the frame structure.

In the embodied means for selecting the sequence of circuit-controllingoperations and predetermining the intervening time periods is a dial 7fixed to sleeve 5, and provided with time markings 8. A plurality ofpin-receiving, screw-threaded openings 9 are arranged about the dialnumbers 8 and pins 10, 11 and 12, of different lengths, may be screwedinto any selected openings 9, the difference in length of the variouspins effect-- mg the circuit selecting function already described. Theorder in which these pins are placed in the holes 9 will effect theselection of circuits.

Cooperating with the pins 10, 11 and 12, is a lever 20, pivoted at 21upon a supporting rod 22, which is fixed to the clock-frame 3 andprojects outwardly therefrom. Lever 20 is bent in a reach 23 parallel tosupporting rod 22, and is bent in the opposite direction, as at 24, thisportion of the lever being also pivoted on rod 22. A collar 27 isangularly adjustable about the rod by a set screw, and a torsion spring28 has one end fixed. in the collar 27 and the other end fixed in thepart 24 of lever 20, thereby impelling the lever 20 in counter clockwisedirection in Fig. 1. A stop pin 29 is fixed in the plate 3 and projectsoutwardly above the lever 20 to act as a stop therefor. The lever 20 isprovided at its outer end with a beveled cam portion 30 to coact withany of the pins 10, 11 or 12 to rock the lever about its axis 22 andthen return it against stop pin 29 through the action of spring 27.

The portion 24, and the rear of the portion 20 of said lever havedownwardly-projecting arms 37, and a supporting rod 38 extends acrossbetween, and is mounted in these projections. The rear end of lever 39is pivotally mounted on the rod and a forwardlyprojecting arm 41 of thislever is bifurcated at its forward end, terminating in two fingers 42and 43. The other arm 44 of lever 39 extends laterally and is upwardlyinclined, and terminates in a finger 45.

The lever 39 is variably positionable, so as to bring any one of thecircuit and function controlling fingers 42, 43 or 44 into actuating oroperating position. For effecting this positioning of the lever 39 alever 57 is loosely mounted upon the supporting shaft 22, and has twoarms 58 and 64 in fixed relation to each other. A cam surface 59 on arm58 engages with one or more of the pins 10, 11 and 12, and just outsidethe cam face 59, lever arm 58 is provided with a face 60. While the pinis passing over this face 60, it causes a dwell or pause for the lever,just before the lever is released to be returned to initial positionagainst the stop 29. A spring 63 is coiled about shaft 22, with one endfixed to the collar 27 and the other end to the lever 57, to hold thelever resiliently in initial position against the stop rod The'other arm64 of lever 57 is likewise provided with a camming surface 65, withwhich one of the settable pins engages to rock the lever downwardly, andalso has a surface 66 to cause a dwell of the lever 57 at the bottom ofits movement. The shortest of pins 10, 11 and 12 will engage only withlever 20, the one of intermediate lengt with levers 20 and 58 and thelongest pins with levers 20, 58 and 64.

The positioning connections between the mechanism just described andlever 39 comprises a short supporting arm 69 fixed to and extendingdownwardly from the arm 64, and terminating in a laterally extendingshelf 70. A pin 71 projects from the side of the arm 41 of lever 39 andrests upon shelf 70, s9z that the lever 39 will move with the lever 5The camming surfaces 59 and 65 are so shaped and positioned that lever57 will be rocked different distances about its pivot.

In the embodied form of switch actuating means, a non-conducting disc 79is mounted on a jointed and longitudinally-resilient shaft, so that thedisc may be moved into various positions thereby to actuate the selectedswitch, and to either open or close the switch. Disc 79 is recessed onone side to receive the pointed end of a supporting stub shaft 80,mounted in a support 81 carried by the frame, the disc being therebysupported but being freely angularly movable. A shaft 82 projects fromthe other side of disc 79, and terminates in a universal joint 85, witha shaft 86 extending from the joint 85, and having a pointed bearing ina support 87. This support is longitudinally and resiliently movable inits mounting in the frame, against the action of a spring 90. Theflexible shaft is thus movable from one position to the other throughthe yield and pressure of spring 90, and is impelled to remain in oneposition until positively moved to another selected position.

The means for moving the disc 79ccoperate directly with the switchactuating fingers 42, 43 and 45, when any one of these switch actuatingfingers is in operative position. Said means comprise a plurality oflongitudinally-slidable actuating rods 97, 98

' one selected position to another.

The switches or circuit opening and 010s ing devices cooperating withthe disc 79 are shown as two in number. One switch mechanism comprises aspring circuit terminal plate 111, mounted at 112 insulated upon asupport 113, the switch having an actuating pin 115, adapted tocooperate with the disc 79. Cooperating with terminal 111 is a springterminal plate 116, likewise insulated on the support 113, and having acontact pin 117, adapted to close the circuit with plate 111. Disc 79 inone position presses the resilient switch member 111 against the contactpiece 117. Another switch mechanism is shown comprising a like resilientcircuit terminal plate 123 supported and insulated from the member 113,and having an actuating pin 124 adapted to engage with the actuatingdisc 79. A cooperating resilient circuit terminal plate is carried byand insulated from the support 113 and has a contact point 126 adaptedto close the circuit with plate 123. The disc 79 in one position movesthe plate 124 to close this circuit. When disc 79 is moved away fromeither pin 115 or pin 124 the corresponding circuit is opened by itsspring terminals.

The manner of operation of the mechanism just described is substantiallyas follows We may regard dial 7 as traveling in clockwise direction inFig. 1. and any one of the pins 10, 11 or 12 as engaging with the camface 30 on the lever 20, and thereby rocking the lever 20 in clockwisedirection until the pin rides off the end of the cam face 30. Duringthis movement the lever 41 is retracted, so that all of the actuatingfingers 42, 43 and 45 are moved clear of the pins 97, 98 and 99. Pin 10will actuate only the lever 20, and lever 57, and lever 41 will eitherremain in the topmost position with lever 57 against stop-rod 29, or themechanism will be raised to this position by spring 63. Finger 42 willbe in operative relation with pin 97 at position II in Fig. 2. As pin 10rides off the cam surface 30, spring 28 will swing back lever 20, andswing lever 39 forwardly and pin 97 will push disc 79 to the position ofFig. 5, thereby closing the circuit.

When the pin 11 thereafter actuates lever 20, the actuating fingers 42,43 and 45 are drawn backwardly with their lever 39, away from thecorresponding pins 97, 98 and 99, and the depression of lever 57 willbring the fingers into a new selective relation. That .is, finger 45will be in register with pin 98 at III in Fig. 2 and as shown in Fig. 4.As the pin 11 passes to the surface 60, the pin rides off the camsurface 30, spring 28 moves lever 39 forward and pins 98 will beactuated to move disc 79 to the position of Fig. 4 in which positionboth circuits are open. Qne of the switches may be opened by thismovement, dependent on the pin sequence in the dial.

Considering the remaining actuating pin 12, the time interval may bevariably determined as before, and lever 39 is depressed. One of thefingers 42, 43 and 45 is brought into operative relation with its pin97, 98 and 99. That is, finger 43 is in register with pin 99, beingposition I in Fig. 2. As pin 12 passes from the cam surface 65 tosurface 66, pin 12 moves past the end of the cam surface 30, lever 20 isreleased, and spring 28 moves lever 39 forward, and pin 99 is pushedout, to move the disc 79 and to effect the desired circuit opening orclosing operation. lVith the arrangement shown the circuit is closed at124, 126, position I.

Referring now to the embodiment of the invention exemplarily shown inFigs. 6 to 8, the clock controlled rotatable disc 7, and the actuatingpins 10, 11 and 12 will be considered to be the same as in Figs. 1 to 3.In said embodiment a lever 121 (corresponding gen erally to lever 20) ofsubstantially J shape, is pivoted at 122 and 123 upon a stud-shaft 124mounted on and projecting outwardly from a frame plate 125. Lever 121 onits outer end is provided with a cam face 129, and a shortdwell-effecting face 130, and with a succeeding depressed or notchedspace 131, which permits the return movement of the lever to efiect theswitch actuating operation.

The lever 121 will be provided with an actuating spring or otheractuating device, similarly to the lever 20 in the previously-describedembodiment, the same being omitted from the drawing for the sake ofclearness. The end 136 of lever 121 projects inwardly beyond itspivot-point 123 and pivotally supported from the end of lever arm 36, at137 is a downwardly-depending lever 138, which is variably positionableto select the particular desired switch actuating operation. Lever 138is bifurcated and the terminal arms 139 and 140 thereof are providedrespectively, with inwardly-extending, switch-actuating projections 141and 142, which cooperate with actuating devices on the switch mechanism,

as will be later described.

The here-embodied form of circuit and circuit controlling functionselecting means comprises a lever 147, pivotally supported at 148 uponthe supporting rod 124, this lever having integral therewith, or fixedthereto, a downwardly-extending arm 149. Pivotally connected to this armat 150 is a positioning rod 151, having a hooked end which pro jectsinto an elongated opening 152 in the switch-selecting lever 138 topermit relative movement of the two in certain positlons,

and. effecting movement together in other for co-operating with the pins1O, 11 and 12 to selectively position lever 138, lever 147 is providedat its forward end with a camming face 159, which for part of its lengthis of double width, the face for a part of its width terminating in aflat dwell-producing surface 160, the remainder of the face being longerand germinating in a dwell-producing surface 161. Thus the dial pincooperating only with the shorter of these faces will lift lever 147 ashorter distance, and the dial pin cooperating with the longer of thesefaces will lift lever 147 a longer distance. Beyond the two-dwellproducing surfaces is a recession or notch 163, to permit the returnmovement of the lever. A stop pin 164 projects from the supporting plate125 beneath levers 121 and 147 to support and initially position them.

In the embodied form of switch mechanism, a switch lever 179 ispivotally mounted at 180 upon a support 181. At one end of the switchlever are a pair of circuit contacts 182 and 183, and near the oppositeend thereof are a pair of circuit contacts 184 and 185. An actuatingblock or arm 187 is fixed to the switch lever 179, and is adapted to beactuated by either the projection 131 on arm 139 or by projection 142 onarm 140 of the switch selecting lever 138, dependent upon thepositioning of the latter from the pins 10, 11 and 12. Means for holdingthe switch mechanism in any of its positions are provided, and asembodied a spring arm 193 is mounted on the frame and upon the endthereof is a block 194, having a central notch 195, and oppositelyinclined surfaces 196 or 197. This device operates, as will be clearfrom the drawing, to hold the switch in either the open position, or theclosed position for either circuit.

The manner of operation of this 1nechanism will be generally clear fromthe description already given, and may be summarized as follows In Fig.8 the short pin 10, as it moves in clockwise direction, will engage onlywith lever 121, and riding along the cam face 129 will rock the leverupwardly, switch selecting lever 138 will be drawn to the right, finger141 will be brought above the lefthand end of the switch-actuating block187, and when the pin rides into the recess 131, lever 121' will bemoved downwardly, and the circuit will be closed at the switch points184 and 185.

Considering the pin 11 (Fig. 6) as moving in the clockwise direction, itwill engage the camming face 129 of lever 121 and also the broader andshorter camming face 159 of lever 147. As lever 121 is raised, theswitchselecting lever 138 is raised also, but the switch will be held inits previous position by the spring detent 193. Lever 147 will be rockedupwardly, and the hooked end of rod 151 will move a slight distance inthe elongated slot 152, to such extent that lever 138 will be suspendedin central position, and the switch will be either left in or moved tothe open circuit position of Fig. 6.

Considering now the longest pin 12, this will engage the cam face 129 oflever 121 and also the long cam face 159 of lever 147, and will rock thelatter to its full extent. This movement, through arm 149 and link 151,which is moved into engagement with the far side of slot 152 will rockswitch-selecting lever 138 to the left, as shown in Fig. 9 and finger140 will engage the right-hand end of switch-actuating block 187, and aslever 121 is returned to position by its actuating device, the circuitcontacts 182 and 183 will be closed.

It will be clear that the mechanism could be utilized to actuate otherdevices and electrical circuits within the broader aspects of theinvention.

What I claim is 1. In combination in a circuit controlling mechanism, aplurality of circuit terminals, means for selectively actuating saidterminals including a device variably positionable to bring it intooperative relation with one or another of said terminals, means forvariably positioning said device and means for causing it to selectivelyopen or close the selected terminal.

2. In combination in a circuit controlling mechanism, a plurality ofcircuit terminals, means for selectively actuating said terminalsincluding a device variably positionable to bring it into operativerelation with one or another of said terminals, means for variablypositioning said device, means for causing it to actuate the selectedterminal, and means for causing successive operations of the mechanismafter predeterminably variable time periods.

3. In combination in a circuit controlling mechanism, circuit terminals,means for selectively actuating said terminals including a devicevariably positionable to bring it into operative relation with one oranother of said terminals, means for variably positioning said deviceand cooperating to effect the selected circuit controlling functionincluding a time controlled device and function selecting devices insettable relation with a member moving with the time controlled device.

4. In combination in a circuit controlling mechanism, a plurality ofcircuit terminals,

means including a device variably positionable to select a terminal tobe actuated, means for variably positioning said device to select acircuit terminal and cooperating to control the selected terminal, saidmeans including a time-controlled device and devices in settablerelation tosaidtime controlled device to predetermine the time relationof successive operations of the mechanism.

5. In combination in a circuit controlling mechanism, circuit terminals,means settable to select a particular circuit, means for retracting thesettable means and returning it to a new set position, a time controlledmoving dial and means variably settable in relation to the timeindications of the dial and to control said settable means to select adesired circuit.

6. In combination in a circuit controlling mechanism, circuit terminals,means settable to select a particular circuit, a time controlled movingdial and means including a plurality of pins of different lengthsvariably settable in relation to the time indications of the dial and tocontrol said settable means to select a desired circuit.

7. In combination, a plurality of controlled devices, controlling meanstherefor including a device variably positionable to select a particulardevice to be controlled, and means traveling in timed relation with aclock mechanism and settable to control said variably positionableselecting device, and the function to be performed on the selected oneof said controlled devices.

8. In combination in a circuit controlling mechanism, circuit terminals,means settable to control a particular circuit, a time controlled movingdial, and a plurality of variably positionable members thereon each toeffect a different operation of the settable means.

9. In combination, circuit terminals, means settable to select aparticular circuit, means for retracting the settable means andreturning it to a new set position, a time controlled moving member andmeans including a plurality of pins variably settable thereon to controlsaid settable means to select a desired circuit.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

J OSEF METTLER.

